A Promise in the Rain
by CherriesandRoses89
Summary: All his life he had lost everything he cared for one after the other. Maybe, just maybe, one day, he could return to her.


_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto.**_

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**A Promise int he Rain**

A lean but muscular figure sat atop a tree. He was seething. He hoped the cool night air might help calm him down. He leaned against the tree's enormous trunk, resting his arms on his knees.

'_Damn that bastard!'_ he thought scathingly.

The snake sannin had been pushing him pretty hard lately. That could only be because there were only a few months left. Three years were almost over. The transfer was almost due.

He reached a hand over to his left shoulder and gritted his teeth as the cursed seal burned. He had been punished this afternoon for returning a day late from a mission to retrieve a scroll from a village. Not that Sasuke regretted his actions at all. He had delayed his return to Sound on purpose. He had accomplished the mission ahead of schedule and decided he wanted a little time off from the stupid snake's rants on power and strength and revenge.

His stomach grumbled and he pulled out an apple from his pocket. He did not always eat the food prepared for him by Sound staff. He knew that they were drugged. Usually, the medicines that Kabuto mixed in were those to suppress his memories and to help him strengthen quickly. He had to admit, though, there were times when he willingly ate the food containing the memory-suppressing drugs if only to help him forget for a while about the people he had left behind in Konoha; if only to temporarily erase the guilt.

Sasuke threw the apple core away and sighed. He rested his head against the tree trunk and looked up at the star-strewn sky. The stars twinkled sadly down at him. And a vision appeared among them: a sad face, brow furrowed, the usually cheeky grin missing, blond hair limp. And a voice said to him, "When I was with you, I thought: this is what it must be like to have a brother." Naruto's voice.

Naruto's face and azure eyes faded, only to be replaced by an even more sorrowful one. Tears welled up in her emerald orbs and Sakura's voice whispered, "Sasuke-kun."

She cried. And her tears fell in great drops on Sasuke's face. Faster and faster they fell; her face also faded away.

Sasuke bent his head. He clutched at his raven hair and gritted his teeth, trying to push back the lump forming at his throat, trying to fight the immense pressure in his chest. He tried to breathe but couldn't. He could not pull in any air. He couldn't think. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed and the rain came down in sheets. Still he couldn't breathe.

The lump in his throat was painful. The pain in his chest was severe. He tugged at his hair and clenched his teeth, his face contorted in agony as he fought with himself.

But he lost the battle as the rain mingled with his own tears. It became still harder to breathe as the tears flowed and his mind brought him back to that fateful night when he had stepped onto a different path from that his friends trod.

_**

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FLASHBACK **_

"_Sasuke-kun!" she cried._

_He did not turn. He kept his back to her. He could not let her distract him. This was his fate, his destiny. He had to do this. Itachi had to pay. And he, Sasuke, would be the one to make him pay; pay for killing his mother and father, pay for taking his whole life away from him. He was an avenger. He would avenge the clan. He would avenge the family._

"_I love you," she said._

_He could not let her distract him. She begged him to stay, and then she asked him to take her along with him. He could do neither. This was a path he would walk alone._

_She might have said more but he had quickly appeared behind her. He saw her stiffen. He heard her breath catch in her throat._

"_Sakura," he said softly. "Thank you."_

_He hit a pressure point._

"_S-Sasuke-kun," she managed to whisper as she lost consciousness._

_He caught her from behind. He lifted her into his arms and carried her to the nearby stone bench. There he laid her down tenderly._

_He knew he should just leave her there and go. That would have been easier; less painful. But he knelt down beside her. With a trembling hand, he pushed stray locks from her face. He stroked her pink head. He looked down at her quiescent countenance, sorrowful even in sleep. He took her hand in his, noticing how cold it was._

_He had made her cry again. He hated it when she cried, when her green eyes lost their gleam and went dull. He didn't like seeing her sad. He liked hearing her voice; it was even enjoyable hearing her shout. He loved to hear her laugh and to see her smile._

_But now, his last memory of her, would be of her crying, begging. It made him loathe himself._

_He bent down and kissed her broad forehead, breathing in her sweet flowery scent. A scent he wished he could smell everyday of his life._

_He forced himself to get to his feet. His face expressionless and cold once more, he left Konoha. He left her._

_**END OF FLASHBACK **_

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His breaths came in short, sharp, gasping pants. He was soaked but he didn't care. He would get scolded again tomorrow for getting himself sick. He might even get punished again. But that didn't matter. Nothing could be worse than the guilt eating, gnawing at him from the inside. 

All his life, he had lost all that he had cared for one after the other. His whole life had been one rooted in anger and revenge. If only Itachi had never slaughtered his clan. If only Itachi had not murdered his parents. If only he, Sasuke, had too died that night, he wouldn't have lived this life of misery and regret, of anger and revenge. But since he lives, he must avenge his clan. He must kill Itachi.

For now, that was his priority, He had come so far. That was his goal. For now he was with Orochimaru; he was a traitor to Konohagasure, only to gain the strength and the skill he needed to defeat his elder brother.

Maybe after that, when Itachi lay dead and defeated at his feet and his parents and clan were avenged, maybe then he could return to Konoha — if they would still accept him. The chances that a village would take back an S-class-missing-nin were highly unlikely. But he would try. Maybe then, he could finally full the empty void in his heart.

If he should die by their hands, it should only be his joy. If they should welcome him back, he would have a lot to make up for. He owed them a lot — his best friend, and her. Little did they know that they were what gave him strength. Maybe, just maybe, he could prove that Naruto was right and that Itachi was wrong. That the power of love was stronger than that from hate.

Maybe one day, he could return to her. Maybe one day, he would finally be able to tell her how much he had loved her all these years. Just maybe, one day.

Sasuke lifted his head. The torrential rain had lessened to a light drizzle. The sky was slowly starting to lighten. In the distant horizon, Sasuke could see the edge of a whitish disc inching its was slowly towards the sky.

Something soft dropped into his hand. Sasuke looked down. There sat a small pinkish flower. The gentle voice echoed in his head again, _"Sasuke-kun…"_

Sasuke got to his feet. He watched the sunrise and listened to the birdsong in pained silence. The drizzle dies away. He looked down at the flower in his palm. He gently fingered the soft petals. It smelled like her.

"One day, I'll come back … if you'll have me; and I'll never leave you again. One day. I promise you … Sakura."

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**AN: Thanks for reading. Please review. If you liked this, please read the upcoming sequel: "Rain of Tears".**


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